I happened to stumble upon this young lady in the channel attempting self rescue that just was not happening. She finally ejected as the bridge loomed ...Was happy to give her a ride in - all good , except for her kite .Funky day out there today .Sonny , I tried to retrieve the kite but failed multiple times - need to take a lesson with you at some point .Cheers ,Bruce

Yeah, conditions were not ideal. I got there around 5:30 - gusty and flukey for about 45min, then it stabilized but got really strong. If you were rigged small to begin with you were fine, otherwise not so much...

All's well that ends well. I'd mentioned to someone on the beach to pass word along and keep eyes open (sorry if it got blown out of proportion). I'm told that the ambulance crew just happened to be there hanging out (SMFD later told me "it was a slow day") and they called the CG. I tried to grab the kite a few times unsuccessfully as well. It must have been Bruce I saw with the surfboard that managed to pull her in to the sandbar. I pulled her a little through a deep spot but was pretty lit at times on my 12m and ended up giving her a few dunkings (sorry!). It helps that this person knew self-rescue and didn't panic; also was willing to let go of the kite, which can be replaced.

One piece of advice I can think of is that the way you use the kite in a self-rescue at 3rd may depend on the wind direction. A NW wind will bring you into shore more, towards last-chance beach or the inner pilings (and it'll tend to be light on the inside). More West or even SSW and the wind is side-offshore (and can be gusty/gnarly inside, like Wednesday), so if the kite catches wind it'll take you straight to the bridge at the channel. I would try to flip the kite upside down and swim it in from on top in this scenario (I say 'try' because it's easy to think this will work while typing on a laptop, harder when the wind is bearing down on you and wind-waves smacking you in the face). Hope this helps!

Other advice - ask people's names and who they're there with. It's easy to think "oh, it's low tide so they can just walk", but you never know what can happen (medical conditions, fitness, dehydration, hypothermia, etc.). In this scenario it was clearly a LONG way in and the wind direction was NOT helping. We have lost an experienced friend here in the water at 3rd... you just never know what can happen.

I also hear that the CG was able to grab the kite from their boat and deliver it. Coast Guard ROCKS!!

I went under the bridge at 3rd once. Wind was side off down there, or at least the current wouldn't let me get to last chance. Stayed with the kite so it would not shred on the barnacles. Deflated the leading edge and rolled it up but floated on the struts. Kicked off the pilings of both bridges. The railroad bridge was a bitch to avoid. Redwood City was all over it. Cops on the bridge threw me a line to hold me in place. Local police boat came out to pick me up (after I got in they couldn't start it). Local ambulance waiting on shore (seemed like a slow day for them too). I would say they rocked and seemed to have done it before. USCG nowhere to be seen.